I am writing in response to Wisconsin's request to amend its State accountability plan under Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). Following our discussions with your staff, those changes that are aligned with NCLB are now included in an amended State accountability plan that Wisconsin submitted to the Department on May 26, 2004. I am pleased to approve Wisconsin’s amendments. A list of the changes is attached to this letter. Additionally, based on information you have provided us, regarding the actions taken by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction to finalize certain elements in the accountability plan required under NCLB, Wisconsin has met all of its conditions of approval, as were detailed in Eugene W. Hickok's July 1, 2003 letter to Wisconsin. As such, I am also pleased to inform you that I have determined that Wisconsin's accountability plan is fully approved. We will post Wisconsin's amended plan on the Department's website.

If, over time, Wisconsin makes changes to the accountability plan that has been approved, Wisconsin must submit information about those changes to the Department for review and approval, as required by section 1111(f)(2) of Title I. Approval of Wisconsin's accountability plan is not also an approval of Wisconsin’s standards and assessment system. As Wisconsin continues to develop its standards and assessments to meet requirements under NCLB, Wisconsin must submit information about those efforts to the Department for peer review through the standards and assessment process.

Please also be aware that approval of Wisconsin's accountability plan for Title I, including the amendments approved above, does not indicate that the plan complies with Federal civil rights requirements, including Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and requirements under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

I hope that you have found the accountability plan amendment process effective for implementing a State accountability system that best serves the needs of Wisconsin's students and schools and that will lead to improving the academic achievement of all students. As evidenced by the diversity among State accountability plans and State consolidated applications, States have great flexibility in the design of their systems and implementation of particular NCLB provisions. If, as you implement your accountability plan, you find additional elements of your plan that you believe should be refined or amended for next school year to best serve the needs of your students and schools, I encourage you to explore all the areas of flexibility available to your State.

In addition to the flexibility available to States in the design and implementation of their accountability plans, I also encourage you and your districts to utilize the additional flexibility available for the administration and operation of NCLB programs. NCLB continued the flexibility available to States and districts under the 1994 reauthorization of the ESEA, including the ability to consolidate State and local administrative funds (sections 9201 and 9203), to operate schoolwide programs (section 1114), and to participate in the Education Flexibility Partnership Program ("Ed-Flex"). Additionally, NCLB created several new flexibility options for States and districts for the operation of federal programs. These new flexibility provisions include the State Flexibility Authority (sections 6141 through 6144), the Local Flexibility Demonstration program (sections 6151 through 6156), Transferability (sections 6121 through 6123), and the Rural Education Achievement program (sections 6201 through 6234). These flexibilities truly offer States and districts the ability to target federal resources to their unique and individual needs.

I am confident that Wisconsin will continue to advance its efforts to hold schools and school districts accountable for the achievement of all students. I wish you well in your school improvement efforts. If I can be of any additional assistance to Wisconsin in its efforts to implement other aspects of NCLB, please do not hesitate to call.

Revision: Wisconsin will utilize the flexibility that the Secretary’s letter of February 20, 2004 provides relative to LEP students for accountability purposes.

Alternate assessment (Element 5.3)

Revision: Wisconsin will use the provisions of the final regulation in the Federal Register issued December 9, 2003, concerning the 1.0% cap for alternate assessments and alternate achievement standards.

Participation rate (Element 10.1)

Request: Wisconsin will adopt the new flexibility regarding multi-year averaging of participation rate. Wisconsin will also adopt the new flexibility regarding students who cannot take an assessment during the entire testing window, including make-up dates, due to a significant medical emergency.